Family of Minnesota man killed by police criticize local officials and seek federal intervention (2024)

A new report by an independent group of experts says it's possible that famine is underway in northern Gaza, but that the war between Israel and Hamas and restrictions on humanitarian access have impeded data collection to prove it. The report by the Famine Early Warning Systems Network on Tuesday said that people, including children, are dying of hunger-related causes across the besieged territory. It urges Israel’s government to act urgently to allow more aid in. A formal declaration of a famine could be used as evidence at the International Criminal Court and at the International Court of Justice, where Israel faces allegations of genocide.

Georgia’s ruling party has introduced draft legislation curtailing LGBTQ+ rights. The proposals by the Georgian Dream are similar to laws enacted in Russia and come on the heels of the authorities adopting another law critics denounced as borrowed from Moscow’s playbook — the “foreign influence” law. It ignited weeks of mass protests and was widely criticized as threatening democratic freedoms and jeopardizing Georgia’s chances of joining the European Union. If adopted, the bill will ban same-sex marriages, gender-affirming care, adoption by same-sex couples, and depiction of same-sex relations in the media. Russia has similar regulations on the books.

The family of Rick Cobb II say they were mistreated by government officials and failed by a system that rarely holds law enforcement accountable. The comments came at a news conference Tuesday, a day after Hennepin County Attorney Mary Moriarty defended her initial decision to charge the trooper and to subsequently drop those charges. Attorney Bakari Sellers and Cobb’s family criticized Moriarty and Democratic Gov. Tim Walz, who have sparred publicly over the case. They also say the family plans to ask the U.S. Department of Justice’s Civil Rights Division to investigate the shooting. Moriarty says new defense claims compelled her to drop murder charges against Trooper Ryan Londregan.

DETROIT — A Michigan man was sentenced Tuesday to 26 months' incarceration for defacing a Jewish synagogue with swastikas and white supremacist group images.

A man who attacked a Muslim state representative outside a prayer service in Connecticut has been sentenced to five years in prison. Andrey Desmond appeared in Hartford Superior Court on Tuesday in connection with the June 2023 assault on Rep. Maryam Khan, the first Muslim to serve in the state House of Representatives. Desmond previously pleaded guilty to attempted sexual assault, attempted strangulation and risk of injury to a minor. Khan says Desmond slapped her, put her in a chokehold and threw her to the ground after demanding a kiss outside the XL Center arena in Hartford. Khan says she suffered a concussion and arm injuries.

BASEBALL

MLB

Arizona Legislature approves proposal that will ask voters to let local police make border-crossing arrests.

Tuesday

House votes to sanction top war crimes court after it sought arrest warrants for Israeli leaders.

HARRISBURG, Pa. — Two Philadelphia state representatives renewed their push for Pennsylvania to require any elected official convicted of a crime to resign, following former President Donald Trump’s guilty verdict last week.

NEW YORK — The New York City Correction Department would be barred from eavesdropping on and recording jail calls without a court-ordered warrant or the consent of at least one person on a given call under a bill being introduced Thursday in the City Council.

A man who escaped from Oregon's state psychiatric hospital while fully shackled and was later found floundering in a muddy pond has been sentenced to 22 years in prison. The Multnomah County District Attorney's Office said Monday it reached a plea deal involving multiple cases with Christopher Pray. He pleaded guilty to charges including manslaughter, attempted murder and assault. Last summer, Pray escaped from the Oregon State Hospital while he was shackled and handcuffed by driving off in a van he was being transported in. Authorities then found him and rescued him from a muddy pond where he had gotten stuck. Pray’s defense attorney did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

Iowa is agreeing to pay $3.5 million in a settlement with the family of an Iowa State University student who drowned after a school crew club boat capsized in cold, rough waters. The State Appeal Board's decision Tuesday approves the terms of the agreement between Iowa State and the parents of Yaakov Ben-David more than three years after the 20-year-old sophom*ore’s death. Records show the family of the second student who drowned agreed to a $2 million settlement in August 2021. The wrongful death lawsuit filed by Ben-David’s parents alleged that Iowa State was negligent with the crew club.

DENVER — Casa Bonita will be the subject of a new film, and this one isn’t a cartoon.

There are a few new and notable music documentaries following the lives and careers of some of the most iconic American rock musicians of the 20th century that have debuted recently on streaming and are worth checking out.

Move over, Duggars. There's a new family coming to TLC.

Missouri voters in August will weigh in on a constitutional amendment requiring Kansas City to spend more money on its police force. The Missouri Supreme Court on Tuesday changed the date of the special election from November to the Aug. 6 primary. It had previously taken the unusual step of striking down the 2022 voter-approved amendment. Democratic Kansas City Mayor Quinton Lucas says voters were misled about the potential costs in 2022. The fiscal note summary said local governments estimated no additional costs. But a lawsuit from Lucas said city leaders told state officials it would cost Kansas City nearly $38 million.

LOS ANGELES — Producer The-Dream has been accused of sex trafficking, sexual battery and rape in a new lawsuit brought by the same firm that represented Sean "Diddy" Combs' ex-girlfriend Cassie Ventura in her now-settled case against the hip-hop mogul.

Members of the U.S. Congress say the ruling Chinese Communist Party that sent in tanks against peaceful student protesters 35 years ago in the heart of Beijing is as ruthless and suppressive today as it was in 1989. It's a stark warning as lawmakers commemorated the anniversary of China’s bloody crackdown in Tiananmen Square. The Tuesday commemorations also included former student leaders of the Tiananmen movement and younger activists from both mainland China and Hong Kong. They come as Washington has shifted its China policy from engagement to competition meant to curb China’s growing influences.

- A year after catastrophic floods submerged entire cities in Italy's Emilia-Romagna region, the city of Forlì honored volunteers from across the nation who helped it recover from the devastating disaster -

The Missouri Supreme Court has denied a death row inmate’s challenge to Gov. Mike Parson’s decision to dissolve a board of inquiry convened to investigate the inmate’s innocence claim. Marcellus Williams filed suit last year after the Republican governor did away with the inquiry board convened by Parson’s predecessor six years earlier. The board never decided if Williams was guilty or innocent. The state Supreme Court ruled Tuesday that Williams has no statutory or due process right to a board of inquiry. Williams was convicted of first-degree murder in the 1998 death of Lisha Gayle during a robbery of her suburban St. Louis home.

Two-time Tony-winning actor Bebe Neuwirth has received a third nomination for her role as Fraulein Schneider in the revival of “Cabaret" on Broadway. Neuwirth has also conquered film and is well-known for her TV roles in “Cheers,” “Frasier,” and “Madam Secretary,” but she says her heart will always belong to theater. The production centers on a round stage with audience members on all sides, no sets and few props, which she says puts the focus on the story and music. She says “Cabaret at the Kit Kat Club” manages to create something is “brand new" but is also “absolutely, purely ‘Cabaret.’” The Tony Awards will be held on June 16.

The first “Bad Boys” came out in 1995, which means we’re officially entering the “aging action star” territory with this franchise. The fourth installment, “Bad Boys: Ride or Die” is directed by the up-and-coming action filmmaking team Adil El Arbi and Bilall Fallah, known as Adil & Bila…

Workers continued to install pipes to replace a ruptured water main in Atlanta on Tuesday, Day 5 of persistent water problems in parts of the city. Mayor Andre Dickens says Atlanta is “making progress" in repairing the flow in the city's Midtown area. Officials have sharply reduced the area where consumers are warned to boil their water before drinking it. Pressure was restored in many areas after a first mammoth leak was fixed Saturday. But some high rises are still affected. The downtown and nearby areas remain under a boil order and water is shut off in the blocks immediately surrounding a second major leak.

Ohio’s attorney general is asking a judge to bar an international institution of Jewish higher education from selling its rare book collection. Dave Yost sought the temporary restraining order against Hebrew Union College in a filing made Tuesday. A hearing on the request is scheduled for July 12. The college is the nation’s oldest Jewish seminary. The possibility of a sale involving the library’s collection emerged earlier this year. The order would block the school from selling items that are part of a rare book and ancient manuscripts collection housed at its Klau Library. A school spokesperson says there are no current plans to sell any part of the collection.

New Orleans hosts its 11th Super Bowl next year. And the preparations involve showcasing the city’s heralded architecture, music, food and celebratory culture while addressing its myriad challenges, including crime, homelessness and an antiquated drainage system. Louisiana Gov. Jeff Landry joined Mayor LaToya Cantrell and a host of other city and state officials on Tuesday at a downtown theater to discuss the process. Landry vowed that the city would be one of the nation’s safest by game day. And a utility executive provided assurances that there won't be a replay of an embarrassing power outage that interrupted the 2013 Super Bowl for 34 minutes.

A 74-year-old woman pronounced dead at a Nebraska nursing home was found to be alive and breathing when she arrived at the local funeral parlor, police said.

HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Jun 4, 2024--

Authorities in Michigan say they have recovered a stolen classic car that was restored years ago by the Make-A-Wish Foundation. Police got a tip and discovered the 1968 Ford Galaxie in a yard in Ingham County. Joshua Agnello has cystic fibrosis. He says he restored the Galaxie about 18 years ago with help from the Make-A-Wish Foundation. The Galaxie was stolen after blowing a tire along a Lansing highway two weeks ago. Agnello left on foot and returned to discover the car was missing. The family is elated that the Galaxie has been found in good shape.

Slovenia recognizes a Palestinian state in a parliamentary vote.

A former protege of The-Dream, the Grammy-winning writer and producer on some of biggest hits by Beyoncé and Rihanna, has filed a lawsuit accusing him of sexual assault and other abuse. Chanaaz Mangroe, who performed under the stage name Channii Monroe, alleges in her lawsuit filed Tuesday in Los Angeles federal court that the producer, whose legal name is Terius Gesteelde-Diamant, lured her into a “manipulative relationship filled with physical assaults, violent sexual encounters, and horrific psychological manipulation” after she left her native Netherlands for the U.S. in 2014 with hopes of making it big as a singer. In a statement to the New York Times, Gesteelde-Diamant called the allegations “untrue and defamatory.”

Fears are rising that time is running out for hostages in Gaza that are still alive. Israel announced Tuesday that four more hostages have died in Hamas captivity. The hostage crisis began on Oct. 7 when Hamas kidnapped about 250 hostages back to Gaza. Nearly eight months later, there are 43 hostages whose remains are being held by Gaza militants and roughly 80 who have not been declared dead.

The Baltimore Sun’s longtime managing editor is retiring and will soon be replaced by another newsroom veteran. It marks the first major staffing shakeup since the newspaper was sold earlier this year to media mogul David D. Smith and his partner, conservative commentator Armstrong Williams. Their political leanings and involvement have since drawn concern from Sun staffers and media experts. Sam Davis, who became the newspaper’s first Black managing editor in 2016, will retire later this month. He will be replaced by Tricia Bishop, the opinion and features content director who started at The Sun in 1999.

DENVER — Thousands of Coloradans incarcerated in the state’s jail system will now be able to vote in person while in custody, under a new law that’s the first of its kind in the United States.

President Joe Biden and former President Donald Trump are in a dead heat in the three states most likely to decide the presidential election.

ATLANTA — The three state appeals court jurists who will decide whether District Attorney Fani Willis should remain on Fulton County’s high-profile election interference case are all appointees of Republican governors and have honed reputations as being conservative yet fair-minded.

CHICAGO -- When graduating University of Chicago senior Rayna Acha heard about the lawsuit filed by a Lebanese American attorney alleging a job offer from a national law firm was rescinded because of her pro-Palestinian views on Gaza, the revocation confirmed one of her worst fears.

DENVER — Gov. Jared Polis has signed into law a bill designed to protect Colorado libraries and their employees from partisan book-banning battles

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. — The mom of a transgender student at the center of a controversy involving Monarch High’s volleyball team could be fired this month from her job at the school.